Banks Worry Apple Will Take a Bite Out of Them

An article in the Wall Street Journal cited that when bank executives contemplate where their most fierce competition may come from, they are most concerned about Apple more than all the fintech organizations and non-banks getting into payments and other traditional bank activities.

Banks have watched less-regulated finance companies, ranging from mortgage lenders to private-equity firms, encroach on many of their main businesses.

But ask an executive or board member at a bank what nonbank company they most fear, and they are likely to name the world’s biggest technology company, Apple Inc.

In a refreshing honest comment concerning why Apple is a concern to banks, James Dimon, CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase stated that it is because Apple constructs their products well and has a holistic approach to the marketplace:

“Apple did it the right way in my opinion, which is they said, we want to make [Apple Pay] work for the customer, we want to be friendly to the merchant, friendly to the card issuer,” J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive James Dimon said at an industry conference in May.

Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group